Shalla the Amazon
| upkeep_cost = | req = | moves = | melee = * | ranged = | defense = | resist = * | hits = | item_slot_1 = | item_slot_2 = | item_slot_3 = | abilities = Blademaster Might Charmed Thrown 4 | random_abilities = 1 (Fighter) }} Shalla the Amazon is one of the 35 Hero units featured in Master of Magic. Shalla is a non-Champion Hero. She may randomly appear for hire if a wizard has at least , in which case her Hiring Cost is by default. Alternatively, Shalla can be summoned using the Summon Hero spell (or through partial failure of the Summon Champion spell), and can occasionally be found as a Prisoner reward after a successful Encounter. Shalla is perhaps the most powerful melee-oriented Hero among the non-Champions. Her default is already strong, and will skyrocket thanks to her Might ability. Furthermore, she has a of respectable strength, which she will use whenever voluntarily attacking an enemy, for extra damage. If this isn't enough, Shalla's Blademaster ability boosts her To Hit for both attacks, making them both deadlier! Shalla possesses only a mediocre score, meaning that she should probably concentrate on improving this attribute. On the other hand, she has high , and thus can survive more damage than normal. Finally, Shalla's Charmed ability means that she is virtually immune to all Curses and many other types of combat maledictions, though this does not apply outside of combat. On top of her default abilities, Shalla gets to pick an extra Random Ability from the "Fighter" category - potentially making her even stronger. Shalla may be equipped with the basic fare of Magical Items. This allows her to improve her Melee Attack capabilities to a great degree - on top of her natural bonuses. She will likely want to focus on improving her score in order to gain more survivability, but any bonuses except magic-oriented ones will easily turn her into a very powerful combatant. Shalla's Upkeep Cost is per turn, unless she has randomly acquired the Noble ability. General Description Shalla the Amazon belongs to a tribe of warrior women. They are fierce fighters, who prove without a doubt that women are every bit as capable in battle as men - if not more-so! It is even rumored that they cut off one or both of their breasts to prevent them from obstructing free movement during combat. Shalla's close-combat capabilities are easily some of the most impressive of any Hero, especially when she gets the chance to throw her axe into a target before charging in for a kill. Shalla is fair-skinned with dirty-blond hair. She is instantly recognizable by her Roman-style helmet: a solid steel helm covering the back of her head, with a red "brushlike" tuft of feathers running along the top. She is dressed in fine, shiny armor, and wears light-green clothes underneath. Shalla rides a dark-brown horse. Initial Properties All data below assumes Shalla is at her lowest , and without any Magical Items or Random Abilities - After all, any Hero can become devastatingly powerful after gaining several levels and powerful items. Please refer to the tables and chapters below for more information. Attack Properties Shalla the Amazon's primary attack is a of formidable strength. When initiating a voluntary attack against an enemy, she also executes a of lesser (but still impressive!) strength. This emphasizes proper maneuvering and a very aggressive approach. Shalla's Melee Attack has a default strength of . Thanks to her Might ability, she receives an extra for a total of . With a basic To Hit chance of , she can be expected to deliver about per attack. This can easily get through most armor. Furthermore, whenever Shalla attacks her enemies voluntarily (i.e. not Counter Attacking), she first executes a Thrown Attack. This attack has a strength of , and can be expected to deliver . This can damage lightly-armored opponents, and will improve with Experience to eventually become a more serious threat. Note that are executed prior to any enemy retaliation. Therefore, any killed by this attack do not get any chance to retaliate. This gives Shalla an advantage over enemy , particularly low-tier Normal Units who are more likely to be damaged by it. Finally, Shalla's Thrown Attack allows her to freely attack enemy Flying units, despite the fact that she herself is not a Flying unit. Both of Shalla's attacks will benefit from an impressive bonus thanks to the Blademaster ability, but this does not apply until she can gain at least one . From that point on however, Shalla can be expected to deliver a much greater amount of damage! Defensive Properties By default, Shalla the Amazon has a relatively-low Defense score compared to other Melee-oriented Heroes, at only . This enables her to block, on average, about from any damage source. Expect Shalla to take damage often, at least until she can gain plenty of Experience and/or acquire strong armor. On the other hand, Shalla possesses by default. This is above-average for a budding Hero, and offsets to some degree Shalla's deficiencies in . Shalla's nominal Resistance score is , which is average for most Heroes. However, this score applies only when a magical effect strikes her on the overland map (for example, Stasis). During combat, Shalla's Charmed ability is applied, and makes her completely immune to any type of Curse, and to many varieties of Special Attacks and combat spells. In game terms, the Charmed ability raises her Resistance score by , giving her a score so high that no known game effect can get through it! Other Properties Shalla the Amazon has a basic Hero's Movement Allowance of . This is good for speeding up her movement on the overland map, through plain land tiles like Grassland and Deserts. During battle, Shalla's speed is essential for proper use of her Thrown Attack. She must maneuver properly in order to execute the attack on her own terms, and withdraw to prevent the enemy from attacking her. Experience The following table illustrates how Shalla's various skills and attributes increase as she gains Experience. Attributes not appearing on this list do not improve with Experience. The effects of Shalla's default Might and Blademaster abilities have already been taken into account when compiling these values. Also note that Shalla always receives an extra Random Ability which may also increase with Experience, and may adjust any of the attributes listed below! Average Damage Output The following table shows Shalla's average output with each of her attacks, based on her current . Note that this table completely ignores bonuses from Magical Items, if any. However, the effects of the Might and Blademaster abilities have already been calculated into this table. You can also use the checkboxes to see the effects of any of the Random Abilities that Shalla may occasionally select. Improvement Overview As with any other Hero, Shalla can eventually become very powerful as she gains Experience. Her combat abilities are quite impressive even at the start of her career. The primary benefit from Experience will be a rapidly-growing bonus from the Might ability, which will eventually make Shalla an incredibly-powerful Melee Attacker. Furthermore, the bonus from the Blademaster ability will grow every 2 levels (starting at level 2, "Myrmidon"). This bonus applies to both of Shalla's attacks, and at higher levels adds a massive boost to her damage output! Shalla's is her weakest attribute, and improves very badly with Experience. This is one of the reasons why heavy armor (see below) is almost indispensable. Shalla may also receive an additional Random Ability that grows with level. In particular, the Constitution or Agility abilities are of great value to her, as they boost or respectively, making her far more durable. The Lucky ability, while not improving with level, applies bonuses that get better as other properties (namely and Attack Strength) get better. Ability Overview Thrown 4 * Whenever this unit makes a Melee Attack against an enemy target, it also delivers a Thrown Attack with a strength of per . * All damage from a Thrown Attack is processed and delivered before the enemy gets the chance to retaliate. Any in the target unit that are killed by the attack do not get to deliver any Melee Damage in return. * This Thrown Attack does not occur when the unit is Counter Attacking against an enemy assailant. Might * This Hero gains to his/her Melee Attack with each , including the first level. Blademaster * This Hero gains for every , starting at level 2 ("Myrmidon"). * This To Hit bonus applies to all of the Hero's attacks. Charmed * During combat, this Hero gains an extra - meaning that he/she will never fail a Resistance roll. * This protects the Hero from all Curses, and from many varieties of combat spells and Special Attacks. * The boost does not apply on the overland map, and thus does not protect the Hero from overland spells or effects. Random Abilities When a new game is started, the program randomly chooses 1 additional ability for Shalla. This is called a Random Ability. The selection is done completely at random (while observing a limit on the strength of certain abilities) from the list below: Picking the Blademaster or Might ability will upgrade Shalla's existing abilities to their "Super" version. This boosts the bonuses from the appropriate ability by 50%. For example, "Super Might" gives per level instead of . Note that fractions are rounded down, but only after they've been added together. The Charmed ability does not appear on this list, because Shalla already possesses this ability be default (and it cannot be upgraded). Whichever Random Ability is picked, it is permanent. Shalla will never re-randomize her ability during the course of a single game. She may, however, pick a different ability in the next game. Although they sound lucrative, acquiring "Super Might" or "Super Blademaster" may not be the most useful result for Shalla. She would benefit more from increasing her defensive properties, through either Constitution ( per level) or Agility ( per level). Either ability can make her very durable, reducing the chance of losing her in combat, and allowing her to effectively battle very strong Fantastic Units (especially if Magical Items are used to further improve these properties). Note that the Noble ability may save you a lot of money on hiring and maintaining Shalla. Since she is already useful even without any Random Abilities, do not be quick to dismiss her if you don't need a Noble Hero at the moment! Naturally, acquiring a Noble Shalla at the start of the game can be a game-changing factor. Equipment Shalla the Amazon has the following item slots: This set-up contributes primarily to Melee combat. This is excellent for Shalla, who is essentially a Melee-oriented unit. Recommended Items Shalla's Attack Strength and To Hit values will rapidly increase with Experience. Therefore, she can concentrate almost exclusively on improving her score through items. As a non-Caster, Shalla has no use for items that increase spell-casting skills. Weapon :Since Shalla has both a and a , she will benefit most from an Axe rather than a Mace or Sword as her main weapon. Any bonuses on the Axe will go to both types of attacks. Note that the item's To Hit bonus won't apply to her Thrown Attack though. bonuses are worthwile while Shalla's level is still low. After that, her To Hit score is already so high that extra bonuses only go to offset enemy curses that reduce this attribute. Attack Strength bonuses are often best, because they can boost Shalla's damage output to matchless levels. :Note that Shalla's score is rather low for a Melee unit. If you cannot acquire sufficiently powerful armor, it may be necessary to temporarily equip her with a Sword that gives bonuses. After all, what good is a Hero with a powerful attack if that Hero will die during her first engagement? :For Shalla, you can completely ignore any (Spell Skill) bonuses. Armor :Shalla's rating is lower than normal, so it is almost essential that she be equipped with the strongest armor you can acquire. Shields are often less desirable, though they may protect this Hero from powerful enemy Ranged Attackers. : bonuses are almost useless for Shalla, as her Charmed ability already boosts her Resistance to near-invulnerability during combat. These bonuses may still be useful to protect her from overland spells like Stasis, but she will likely become immune to them anyway after gaining a few . :Movement Allowance bonuses can be more important than they seem for this Hero. Proper use of her Thrown Attacks can make a big difference for Shalla's combat performance, and extra Movement allows her to maneuver better in order to utilize this attack. Jewelry :As with the Axe described above, offensive bonuses on Jewelry will apply to both of Shalla's attacks. Again, Attack Strength bonuses can boost Shalla's to matchless levels, helping to kill her enemies before they can counterattack. :Also consider adding even more bonuses through Jewelry. The last thing you want is to lose this Hero during melee combat. :As with any melee-oriented Hero, you can safely ignore Jewelry items that give bonuses to ("Spell Skill") or penalties. Shalla has no use for either of them. bonuses can also be safely ignored, especially once Shalla has gained a couple of . :Again, a Movement Allowance bonus, even a small one, can help Shalla make good use of her Thrown Attack. Acquisition Shalla the Amazon can be acquired in one of four different methods: * By hiring her as she comes to visit your Fortress town, * By casting the Summon Hero or Summon Champion spells, * By rescuing her from an Encounter zone, * By Resurrecting her after she has been killed in battle. Hiring Shalla Every once in a while, a Hero will arrive at your Fortress town to ask for employment. The frequency of this event depends on your current score, the number of Heroes already under your employ, and whether or not you have particular Retorts that affect this chance. In order for Shalla to appear for hire in this way, you must meet several requirements: # You must have at least . # You must have sufficient in your treasury to hire Shalla (more on this below). # Shalla must not have already been killed in battle. Since the game randomly chooses which Hero appears during this event, there's no guarantee that Shalla will ever appear. The chance, however, increases if the number of other valid Heroes dwindles (such as when most other Heroes have died in battle). The default Hiring Cost for Shalla is . This is reduced to if your wizard has the Charismatic Retort. If you do not have this much at the start of a turn (after paying all Upkeep Costs), Shalla will not appear for hire. In fact, if she is picked as the Hero who approaches you, and you lack the money to hire her, you are effectively forfeiting your chance to hire any Hero this turn. After agreeing to hire Shalla (you can always refuse), you may give her any name you choose - she will be known as " the Amazon". Her overland unit will appear at your Fortress town or, if that town's garrison is full, next to your Fortress town. Summoning Shalla As a non-Champion hero, Shalla the Amazon can be summoned using either the Summon Hero or Summon Champion spells. However, Summon Champion only has a chance to bring Shalla to you if all Champions are unavailable at the time. Once the spell is completed, the game chooses a random Hero to bring to your Fortress from a list of all available and valid Heroes. Therefore, there is no guarantee that Shalla will appear when these spells are cast, unless all other Heroes are unavailable. Again, you get a chance to agree or refuse to hire Shalla. If you agree, she will appear in your Fortress town and/or next to it. If Shalla is hired through the use of Summon Hero or Summon Champion, there is no need to pay any Hiring Cost. However, you may still need to pay an Upkeep Cost (see below). Rescuing Shalla On defeating an Encounter of at least moderate difficulty, there is a small chance that your reward will include a Prisoner previously held captive in this Encounter zone. The game can randomly pick any non-Champion Hero to be rescued in this way - except Heroes that have already died while in your service. Your and are disregarded, and there is no need to pay any Hiring Costs. Note that if the army that beats that particular Encounter already contains 9 units, you will never be rewarded with a Prisoner. Resurrecting Shalla For most wizards, losing Shalla in battle removes her from the game permanently. She will never appear again. For -wielding wizards, however, who have access to the Resurrection spell, it is possible to bring Shalla back to life after she has died. In this case, Shalla returns to your Fortress town, with no Magical Items, but keeping all Experience she had prior to her death. You may repeatedly resurrect Shalla each time she dies. Upkeep Costs Once Shalla is in your employ, you must pay her an Upkeep Cost of at the start of each and every turn. Failure to pay this price due to lack of results in Shalla leaving your employ. This is not permanent however: Shalla may still be acquired in any of the above methods with no penalty. Note that if Shalla picks the Noble Random Ability, she will demand no Upkeep Costs - and instead contribute to your treasury every turn! Alternate Names Other wizards can also have a Amazon, but they are different characters (what happens to one has no effect on the others), and go by different names, as follows: Category:Units Category:Heroes Category:Non-Champions